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Key Facts

Full name
Simon Atkins

Known as
Simon Atkins

Born
23 December 1968 (age 54)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 18y 103d
Last game: 27y 253d

Height and weight
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 88 kg

Senior clubs
Footscray; Fitzroy; Werribee

Jumper numbers
Footscray: 23
Fitzroy: 23

Recruited from
Wynyard (1987); Footscray (1995); Fitzroy (1997)

Family links
Paul Atkins (Brother (Twin))

Simon Atkins

Advanced stats
ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
FootscrayV/AFL1987, 1989-1994127760.6050%13.6510.792.1032
FitzroyAFL1995-199641130.325%11.9010.612.597
WerribeeVFL1997-200080———————
V/AFL1987, 1989-1996168890.5339%13.2310.742.2239
VFL1997-200080———————
Total1987, 1989-2000248890.36—————

AFL: 9,808th player to appear, 1,011th most games played, 1,224th most goals kickedFootscray: 779th player to appear, 92nd most games played, 80th most goals kickedFitzroy: 1,134th player to appear, 297th most games played, 315th most goals kicked

Centreman Simon Atkins, after a quiet first term against Don Pyke, dominated the third term setting up almost every forward move.¹

After playing briefly with Wynyard, Simon Atkins was recruited by Footscray and made his VFL debut in 1987. Superb in the clinches and on heavy grounds, he was a prolific possession gatherer who used the ball extremely effectively, especially by hand. During the 1990 season he executed no fewer than 291 handballs to head the AFL's list. A Tasmanian state of origin representative, he twice finished second in the Bulldog's best and fairest voting.

After 127 games for Footscray, Atkins crossed to Fitzroy in 1995 and was a consistently conspicuous performer in 41 games during that club's final couple of seasons in the AFL. Between 1997 and 2000 he played 80 games for Werribee, winning the club's best and fairest award in his debut season. He coached Coburg in 2004 and in 2005 returned to Werribee as senior coach.

Author - John Devaney

Footnotes

1. “The Canberra Times”, 22/8/93, page 14. It was close to a match-winning performance by Atkins as he helped the Bulldogs add six goals to nil to forge ahead of West Coast who had led by eight points at half time. Footscray ultimately won by seven straight goals.

Sources

Full Points Footy's SA Football Companion, Full Points Footy's Tasmanian Football Companion, Crème de la Crème

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Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.